每隔一段时间，ATC就会推出限量特别版音箱，中坚产品150尤其多，型号也略有不同，比如EL150 SLP、EL150 SLA、SCM150SL AT、SCM150 Anniversary、SCM150SE等。其中EL150 SLP与SCM150 Anniversary仍在产品目录中，木皮外饰可以根据用家的定单要求定制。这些特别版150音箱都装载新改良的25mm球顶高音SH25-76S，新改进的独立音腔钕磁铁软球顶高音安装在一组精密的铝波导管内，与箱体形成相对独立的两个工作空间。而且高音单元面板的扩散弧度经过精密计算，让前扩散角更广和稳定。中音为SM75-150S软球顶中音，这是ATC的经典之作、镇厂之宝。采用Super Linear超线性技术的375mm低音单元SB75-375SL，能降低单元的失真率，进而在听感上提升中频的清晰度，使乐器的表现更加传真。所有单元都会进行仔细的配对，分音器采用精确配对的聚丙烯电容、空芯线圈电感、高精度陶瓷电阻等。不论哪一款特别版的150，其音色之圆滑、动态之强烈和音场之立体，都足以名列当今世上最靓声的动圈扬声器之一。
ATC SCM19A有源扬声器和ATC最新的CDA2 MK2 CD/解码/前级一体机自然是最好的搭配，同时在理论上也能实现最短的讯号传输路径。ATC SCM19A有源版配备电子分音设计，基于A/B类的全分立元件Mosfet场效应晶体管放大输出，配合相位校正和过载保护。对每个声道采取独立的功率供给，控制在低失真情况中运作，两组功放分别输出150W驱动中低音和32W驱动高音单元。ATC推出了全新的CDA2 MK2 CD/解码/前级一体机，这款机器在旧款CDA2基础上进行全新升级。CDA2 MK2的数字电路为重新设计及优化版本，采用32bit的AKM DAC解码芯片，此外为了支持DAC，MK2在电源架构上新增了九只电压调节器，电源去耦设计比起第一代的更为优秀。
英国ATC扬声器，属于之前家庭Hi-End系统“推荐”介绍的继续，不过这次要推荐的扬声器为体型较大的100系列，而且是有源系统——SCM100ASL。很早的时候我就聆听过SCM50SE和SCM100SE座地式扬声器，其均以被动方式进行运作，也就是说全频的音乐讯号传输末端将在内置扬声器中的被动分频器进行HF\MF\LF滤波还原，这种无源设计成为了民用Hi-End市场的主流，因为其能视为独立环节，自然在搭配上更加灵活和轻松。
为什么还要推荐SCM100ASL有源版呢？它存在的意义和价值又在哪里呢？首先，这次要推荐的SCM100ASL，属于SCM100SE的衍生版，有源设计对于ATC厂商来说是确实是小菜一碟。作为专为录音室输出专业监听有源扬声器的厂家，SCM100SE民用无源版本就是针对民用发烧友及搭配所需而生，但厂家也发现市场对ATC专业监听有源技术同样痴迷，ATC索性炮制多一款发烧级的监听有源产品SCM100ASL。其在外观上识别是有点难度的。不过玩家只要摸摸背面的散热片就能清楚，这些硕大的散热片都是紧贴着内部的功放管，放大线路设计以AB类型进行运作。
早在2010年，ATC就推出了CDA2，这是ATC的第一款音源系统，包含了CD播放、DAC解码和前级功能，完全在英国工厂制造。对于搭配高级有源喇叭的用家，CDA2提供了简单高质的搭配选择。而这次试听的CDA2 MK2则是时隔8年后推出的第二代产品，在2018年底才正式上市。相比前代产品，它的CD、解码器版块都进行了升级，增加了输入选择，并且重新设计了模拟信号放大电路。融合专业气质的外观设计,面板中央的指示灯显示播放的讯源，除了可播放CD唱片外，还备有两组RCA模拟输入，以及备有同轴/光纤与USB数字输入。机身采用了钢铝混合结构，并加入特殊的阻尼层约束共振的问题，机脚也是实心金属制造。
CD2播放机采用TEAC专为CD唱机设计的5020A-AT转盘，DAC则是来自AKM的32Bit制品，不过低噪多反馈模拟滤波器则出自ATC自家之手。输出部分包括RCA单端和真正差分输出的XLR平衡端，同时也有数字光纤和同轴端口，以便外接DAC使用。
SIA2-100同样内置DAC，因此也具备数字光纤和同轴的输入，不过没有设计XLR平衡输入，因此主要的设计目标依然是面向民用市场。ATC强调其前置放大电路和后级功率放大都采取了完全独立的电源供应，以减少彼此的干扰。同时，板载的AKM DAC和USB接收也使用了独立的电源稳压器，模拟信号线路更是分立式设计。USB输入支持32Bit/44.1kHz～384kHz的PCM采样，支持2.822MHz（单速率DSD64）、5.644MHz（双速率，DSD128）下解码DSD数据流。而后级功率放大部分，并没有因为机箱小巧而采用时下流行的廉价D类放大技术，而是保持了ATC一贯对高音质要求的AB类技术，采用MOS-FET场效应功率管输出功率为100W×2（8Ω）。此外，SIA2-100还内置了高素质耳放，并且以偏A类输出，可适配32～600Ω阻抗的耳机。
ATC SCM150 LE限量纪念版落地箱是在全年12月上市的，国内首次露面就是在音响展上首发。在展会上对ATC工程经理Richard Newman先生的专访中得知，SCM-150LE是一款主动有源落地箱，整体主要架构依然源自于成熟的SCM150，外观上最大的改变是箱体表面采用精选玫瑰木皮，再以多层钢琴烤漆打磨，质感上乘。更显高贵之余，还有效提高箱体刚性，减低谐振。
另一个改变，是箱体下的脚座由 Billy Woodman亲自设计，底座还镶嵌了一圈镀24K金裙边，不但彰显限量版的极致奢华，还有实际作用的。据ATC工程师介绍，这是为了加固底座的稳定性，有效降低15英寸的大口径低音在重播大动态时的剧烈震动状况，提供更沉稳的低频，更均衡的声音表现。可见，ATC老板为了限量版用户能够有最好的聆听享受，可谓是绞尽脑汁，尽善尽美了。箱体外观虽然和以往的产品区别不大，但箱体内部经过重新强化设计，用料非常扎实，重量甚至直逼旗舰的SCM-300。
Alistair concludes, “I have been massively impressed by the SCM 12 Pro – defying mere fashion it’s an evolutionary product from a firm that refuses to compromise engineering decisions for marketing acceptability. They are professional tools designed for a working studio environment. The finish is utilitarian but the sound extraordinary, and if you need compact monitors that tell the unvarnished truth about your audio, start here.”
To read the review in full please visit the Audio Media International website.
“Finding a path through all the conflicting constraints when designing a monitor is akin to making the pieces of a jigsaw fit together, and when you get it right, everything snaps into focus. The SCM12 Pro had that from the very start.”
“The foundation of the SCM12 Pro is its low-frequency performance: typically closed-box with its lack of overhang and reassuring security of pitch, whatever the volume level, but with the added quality that comes from driver engineering that’s a level or two above run-of-the-mill and can play surprisingly loud.”
“As you can probably tell, I really like the SCM12 Pro. I think it’s a genuinely fine nearfield monitor, and given the relatively low price for the level of engineering involved, it is something of a bargain.”
Phil Ward, Sound on Sound Magazine, September 2017.
You can read the review in full on the Sound on Sound Website where you can also subscribe to both print and digital versions of the magazine.
LONDON, UK: specialist British loudspeaker drive unit and complete sound reproduction system manufacturer ATC is proud to announce that mastering engineer extraordinaire Barry ‘Bazza’ Grint has acquired a P2 PRO Dual Mono Power Amplifier — a true dual mono design delivering 300W of continuous power simultaneously from both channels to drive the most challenging loudspeaker loads with ATC’s signature virtues of wide bandwidth and ultra-low distortion — to enhance the fullrange monitoring system in his room at Alchemy Mastering, one of the world’s leading lights in half-speed and pure analogue vinyl mastering…
Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering with ATC P2 Pro Power Amp
Mastering engineer extraordinaire Barry Grint’s ‘lifelong’ love affair with The Dark Art Of Audio Mastering — to paraphrase the appropriate website wording for Alchemy Mastering (www.alchemymastering.com), the company he founded in 1998, having previously worked at Abbey Road, Porky’s Mastering, Tape One, and the legendary Trident Studios — led him to a life less ordinary that has been truly extraordinary. “I always wanted to work in a recording studio, but getting in has always been difficult,” he notes. “I had many jobs beforehand, but eventually I started as a tea boy at Trident Studios. Seeing first-hand what being a studio engineer actually entailed, I felt that it wasn’t quite right for me. On the third floor there was disc cutting — vinyl and cassette being the only formats at the time. I immediately felt at home, starting in the tape and cassette copy room, before moving up to vinyl mastering in 1984.”
The bright-eared Barry Grint was quick off the mark in making his mastering mark. 1984 alone saw his mastering mojo working wonderfully on classic vinyl singles for Duran Duran (‘The Wilds Boys’), Foreigner (‘I Want To Know What Love Is’), Madonna (‘Like A Virgin’), Van Halen (‘Jump’), and ZZ Top (‘Gimme All Your Lovin’’). Thereafter, things went seriously stratospheric as Barry Grint went on to work with a roll call of rock and pop greats such as Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Oasis, Prince, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, to list but a few notable names. Speaking of names, the master(ing) craftsman identified his vinyl work by etching ‘Bazza’ in the run out-groove with various incarnations including Bazza @ Abbey Road, Bazza @ Tape One, Bazza @ Porky’s putting in an appearance throughout the years.
Yet Barry Grint has witnessed a lot of industry changes — technological or otherwise — in a celebrated career spanning five distinctive decades. Given his mastering pedigree, perhaps it was inevitable that he would one day become a master of his own destiny at Alchemy Mastering in Soho, which went on to become one of the UK’s foremost mastering facilities before leasing issues at its ‘high-flying’ Centre Point office tower London location left its founder rethinking and, ultimately, relocating somewhat closer to terra firma. Its current location in an elegant West London mews houses three acoustically-tuned studios with natural daylight designed by the three ‘Alchemists’ — Barry Grint and fellow Directors Matt Colton and Phil Kinrade — themselves, each equipped with full-range monitoring systems and a wide range of vintage and cutting-edge high-end analogue and digital hardware and software processors, perfect for pursuing their sought-after craft. “We all react to what’s coming out of the speakers, and we make our judgements based on how that sounds in the room,” Matt Colton claimed, soon after receiving the coveted Music Producers Guild Mastering Engineer of the Year award in 2013.
As a full member, Barry Grint is no stranger to the MPG (Music Producers Guild) himself, representing them when working with the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) to create a standard for embedding the ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) within BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) audio, adopted by the main manufacturers of mastering software internationally. But back in the mastering hot seat within Mastering Two — Barry Grint’s mastering studio for digital, CD, and vinyl mastering at Alchemy Mastering — things get more personal. “The choice of equipment is a very personal thing,” its owner-occupier opines. “I was very happy with my monitor speakers, but they seemed to lack bass extension; Matt Colton has active ATC SCM150 ASL PROs in his room, so I thought that an ATC amp might give me more bass.”
Cue delivery of a P2 PRO Dual Mono Power Amplifier — a true dual mono design delivering 300W of continuous power simultaneously from both channels to drive the most challenging loudspeaker loads with ATC’s signature virtues of wide bandwidth and ultra-low distortion — on trial. The result? “The bass extension was great, but there was also a noticeable improvement overall — a smoothness that gave improved detail and clarity,” continues the seriously impressed Barry Grint. “The difference wasn’t subtle with the P2 PRO. I called Ben Lilly, Technical Sales Manager at ATC, and told him he couldn’t have the demo unit back until he had sent me the one I bought!”
Beneficiaries of this latest acquisition already encompasses a lengthening list of current and established artists alike, as Barry Grint reveals: “Remastering Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds, The Stranglers, Declan McKenna, Tom Odell, Sean Paul, Roger Waters; vinyl mastering for All Tvvins, Gorillaz, Laura Mvula, Little Mix, Radiohead, Rag’n’Bone Man, The Libertines, The Rolling Stones…”
So, yes, Barry Grint has witnessed a lot of industry changes in a celebrated career spanning five distinctive decades — not least the putative passing of vinyl into the annals of reproductive audio history only for it to triumphantly return relatively recently, as evidenced by Alchemy Mastering making a name for itself as one of the world’s leading lights in half-speed and pure analogue vinyl mastering: “When I started, people recorded in recording studios and mobile studios were big articulated lorries loaded with massive Neve, Cadac, or Trident desks and multitrack tape machines. Today, digital recording has made available amazing recording spaces. Sometimes this means that for some projects the mastering room is the only controlled listening environment, one where a good speaker/amp combination is vital. This is why we went with ATC.”
ATC P2 Pro Dual-Mono Power Amp
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 2018: Twenty-five years into his career, Mat Mitchell has a lot going on, little of which fits into tidy job descriptions. He’s a producer and an all-things tech having toured the world on behalf of Nine Inch Nails, Tool, and Katy Perry. He’s also the lead guitarist and producer for Tool and A Perfect Circle front man Maynard James Keenan’s band, Puscifer. When not on the road, Mitchell works out of his private studio space in north Hollywood centered on an SSL 6000E/G+ console with Apogee Symphony II converters and tons of fabulous outboard gear. His most recent work is with The Beta Machine, the up-and-coming project of A Perfect Circle’s Matt McJunkins and Jeff Friedl. Mitchell recorded the band’s EP, “All This Time,” and is just about to finish producing, recording, and mixing the band’s debut full-length. Before doing so, however, Mitchell ditched his NS-10s for a new pair of ATC SCM45A monitors.
“I’m pretty old school, and I used NS-10s forever,” Mitchell said. “I always had good results because I knew how to work with them, but recently I was listening to some of my mixes in a friend’s mastering room. It was easy to hear things that I had to really focus on to hear in my studio, and I thought, ‘you guys are having a whole different experience!”. Inspired by the thought of having that same experience on a daily basis, Mitchell arranged a demo with Troy Manning at Vintage King Audio, Los Angeles.
“We started out with a pair of ATC SCM25As, which sounded fantastic,” Mitchell said. “Then I wanted to try some other monitors just to get a sense of what’s out there. Sometimes a particular manufacturer initially made me think, ‘that sounds great!’ but once I listened closer to songs I was familiar with, I could tell that things were missing or exaggerated. We tried some of this and some of that, and then we bumped up to the next level speakers. I heard some other manufacturers, and then Troy put on the ATC SCM45As. I was like, ‘ok, we’re done here!’ To my ears, they were very familiar and also very honest.”
Once they were back at his studio, Mitchell had fun playing songs he knew well both alone and with some close friends. “I had a pretty good idea of which songs had mixes I considered were really perfect, and that came through on the ATCs,” he said. “But I also detected problems that I had never heard before in some other songs. On my old monitors, they all sounded like ‘great mixes.’ Now I could discern different levels of ‘great!’ The differences were obvious.”
Mitchell completed the mixes for all eleven songs of The Beta Machine’s forthcoming debut full-length on his new ATC SCM45As. “I think when it’s all said and done, I’m getting to the same place I used to get to, but it’s so much easier and faster,” he said. “I’m reacting to the mix and making choices much more quickly. Any problems are instantly apparent – it’s like, ‘oh, that’s out of phase’ or ‘that needs to come down 1.5dB.’ Plus, it’s more exciting. Once I have things is a good place, it’s fun to turn it up because the ATC’s sound so great! The imaging is wide and precise. And of course, as advertised, the ATCs translate perfectly. Every mix sounds just right on my home stereo, in my car, on my phone, and anywhere.”
